Chapter 1: SHAFTS

Topics:

1. What is Shaft?

2. What are the materials used for shafts.

3. Types of Shafts.

4. Shaft Loads.

5. Shaft Design

Design of Shafts on the basis of strength

1. Shafts subjected to Twisting Moment only.

2. Shafts subjected to Bending Moment only.

3. Shafts subjected to combined Twisting and Bending moment.

Design of Shafts on the basis of Rigidity

1. Torsional Rigidity.

2. Lateral Rigidity.

6. Stress concentration and Notch Sensitivity.

7. Stresses in shafts.

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1. What is shaft?

A shaft is a rotating member, usually of circular cross section, used to transmit power from the
driving device (motor or engine) to the machine. It also provides the axis of rotation, or oscillation, of
elements such as gears, pulleys, flywheels, cranks, sprockets, and the like and controls the geometry
of their motion.

Note:

1. The shafts are usually cylindrical, but may be square or cross-shaped in section. They are solid in
cross-section but sometimes hollow shafts are also used.

2. An axle, though similar in shape to the shaft, is a stationary machine element and is used for the
transmission of bending moment only. It simply acts as a support for some rotating body such as
hoisting drum, a car wheel or a rope sheave.

3. A spindle is a short shaft that imparts motion either to a cutting tool (e.g. drill press spindles) or to
a work piece (e.g. lathe spindles).

2. What are the materials used for shafts.

The material used for shafts should have the following properties :

1. It should have high strength. 2. It should have good machinability.

3. It should have low notch sensitivity factor. 4. It should have good heat treatment properties.
5. It should have high wear resistant properties.

The material used for ordinary shafts is carbon steel of grades 40 C 8, 45 C 8, 50 C 4 and 50 C 12.
The mechanical properties of these grades of carbon steel are given in the following table.

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When a shaft of high strength is required, then an alloy steel such as nickel, nickel-chromium or
chrome-vanadium steel is used.

3. Types of Shafts:

 Transmission shafts:
These shafts transmit power between the source and the machines absorbing power .the line
shafts, overhead shafts and all factory shafts are transmission shafts. Since these shafts carry
machine parts such as pulleys, gears etc, therefore they are subjected to bending in addition to
twisting.

 Machine shafts:
These shafts form an integral part of the machine itself. The crank shaft is an example of
machine shaft

4. Shaft Loads:

The loading on rotating transmission shaft is principally one to two types: torsion due to the
transmitted torque or bending from transverse loads at gears, sheaves and sprockets. These loads
often occur in combination, since, for example, the transmitted torque may be associated with
forces at the teeth of gears or sprockets attached to the shafts. The character of both the torque and
bending loads may be either steady (constant) or may vary with time.

If the shaft is stationary (non-rotating) and the sheaves or gears rotate with respect to it (on
bearings), then it becomes a statically loaded members as long as the applied loads are steady with
time. However, such a non rotating shaft is not a transmission shaft since it is not transmitting any
torque. It is merely an axle or round beam. But if the shaft is rotating it will experience a fully
reversed stress state as show in the figure below. Any one stress elements on the shaft surface goes
from tension to compression each cycle the as the shaft turns, thus even for steady bending loads, a
rotating shaft must be designed against fatigue failure.

σ min = Min Stress σ m = midrange component σ max = Max Stress

σ r = range of stress σ a = amplitude component σ s = Static or steady stress

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Fig: Some stress-time relations:

(a) Fluctuating stress with high frequency ripple. (b & c) Non sinusoidal fluctuating stress
(d) Sinusoidal fluctuating stress (e) Repeated Stress (f) Completely reversed sinusoidal stress

5. Shaft Design:

Design of Shafts on the basis of strength

1. Shafts subjected to Twisting Moment only:

When the shaft is subjected to a twisting moment (or torque) only, then the diameter of the shaft
may be obtained by using the torsion equation. We know that

T τ
J
= r
--------- (1)

where T = Twisting moment (or torque) acting upon the shaft

J = Polar moment of inertia of the shaft about the axis of rotation.
τ = Torsional Shear stress, and
r = Distance from neutral axis to the outer most fibre.
d
= , where d is the diameter of the shaft.
2

π
we know that for round solid shaft, polar moment of inertia, J= * d4
32
now the eq (1) can be written as

T τ
π
∗d 4
= d ------(2)
32 2

from this equation we can find the diameter of round solid shaft (d).

π 4
we also know that for Hollow shaft, polar moment of inertia J = * [ ( d o ) −(d i ) ⁴ ]
32
d
where d 0 and d i = outside and inside diameter of the shaft, and r = o
2
substituting the values in eq (1)

T τ 4
( d o ) −(d i ) ⁴
π
∗ ( d )4 −(d i)⁴ ]
32 [ o
= do
2
or T=
π
16
*τ [ do ] ----------(3)

di
let k = Ratio of inside diameter and outside diameter of the shaft. =
do
now the equation (3) can be written as

4
 (d0) ⁴ d
π
T = 16 * τ *
d0 [ ( )]
1− i ⁴ =
do
π
16
* τ * ( d o ) ³ (1- k 4) ----------(4)

from the equations (3) & (4) we can determine the outside and inside diameters of the hollow shaft.

Note:

1. The hollow shafts are usually used in marine work. These shafts are stronger per kg of material
and they may be forged on a mandrel, thus making the material more homogeneous than would be
possible for a solid shaft.

When a hollow shaft is to be made equal in strength to a solid shaft, the twisting moment of both
the shafts must be same. In other words, for the same material of both the shafts,

2. Shafts subjected to Bending Moment only:

When the shaft is subjected to a bending moment only, then the maximum stress (tensile or
compressive) is given by the bending equation. We know that
M σb
I
= y
--------(1)
where M = Bending moment
I = Moment of inertia of cross-sectional area of the shaft about the axis of rotation,
σb = Bending Stress and
y = Distance from neutral axis to the outer-most fibre.

π d
we know that for a round solid shaft, moment of inertia, I =
64
* d 4 and y = 2

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3. Shafts subjected to combined Twisting and Bending moment:

Completely Reversed or Cyclic Stresses

Consider a rotating beam of circular cross-section and carrying a load W, as shown in Fig.1.1. This
load induces stresses in the beam which are cyclic in nature. A little consideration will show that the
upper fibres of the beam (i.e. at point A) are under compressive stress and the lower fibres (i.e. at
point B) are under tensile stress. After half a revolution, the point B occupies the position of point A
and the point A occupies the position of point B. Thus the point B is now under compressive stress
and the point A under tensile stress. The speed of variation of these stresses depends upon the
speed of the beam. From above we see that for each revolution of the beam, the stresses are
reversed from compressive to tensile. The stresses which vary from one value of compressive to the
same value of tensile or vice versa, are known as completely reversed or cyclic stresses.

Notes:
1. The stresses which vary from a minimum value to a maximum value of the same nature, (i.e.
tensile or compressive) are called fluctuating stresses.

2. The stresses which vary from zero to a certain maximum value are called repeated stresses.

3. The stresses which vary from a minimum value to a maximum value of the opposite nature (i.e.
from a certain minimum compressive to a certain maximum tensile or from a minimum tensile to a
maximum compressive) are called alternating stresses.

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Fatigue Failure:
when a material is subjected to very large no of stresses at a time, material will fail below yield or
ultimate point. This is called fatigue failure.
The failure is caused by means of a progressive crack formation which are usually fine and of
microscopic size. The failure may occur even without any prior indication. The fatigue of material is
effected by the size of the component, relative magnitude of static and fluctuating loads and the
number of load reversals.

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The Endurance limit (or) Fatigue Limit (σ e or se ) :

In order to study the effect of fatigue of a material, a rotating mirror beam method is used. In this
method, a standard mirror polished specimen, as shown in Fig. 1.2 (a), is rotated in a fatigue testing
machine while the specimen is loaded in bending. As the specimen rotates, the bending stress at the
upper fibres varies from maximum compressive to maximum tensile while the bending stress at the
lower fibres varies from maximum tensile to maximum compressive. In other words, the specimen is
subjected to a completely reversed stress cycle. This is represented by a time-stress diagram as
shown in Fig. 1.2 (b). A record is kept of the number of cycles required to produce failure at a given
stress, and the results are plotted in stress-cycle curve as shown in Fig. 1.2 (c). A little consideration
will show that if the stress is kept below a certain value as shown by dotted line in Fig. 1.2 (c), the
material will not fail whatever may be the number of cycles. This stress, as represented by dotted
'
line, is known as endurance or fatigue limit (σ e or se ). It is defined as maximum value of the
completely reversed bending stress which a polished standard specimen can withstand without
failure, for infinite number of cycles (usually 10 7 cycles).

'
Generally for steel se = 0.5 SUlt If SUlt ≤ 1400 Mpa

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 = 700 Mpa If SUlt ¿1400 Mpa
Fatigue Strength:
Generally to determine life of a specimen we will divide into categories.
1. if 1≤N ≤103 Low cycle fatigue 2. If N ≥103 High cycle fatigue
In the low cycle fatigue the fatigue strength Sf is only slightly smaller than the tensile strength Sult .
Fatigue strength can be expressed as Sf = a N b------ (1)
where N = No of cycles to failure and the constants a and b are defined by the points 10 3, ( sf )103 and
106, Se with ( sf )103 = f Sult . Substituting these values in eq (1) gives

If a completely reversed stress σ a is given, setting Sf = σ a in Eq. (1), the number of cycles-to-failure
can be expressed as

Fig 1.3: Fatigue strength fraction, f, of Sult at 103 cycles for Se = S'e = 0.5 Sult .

Endurance Limit Modifying Factors:

We have seen that the rotating-beam specimen used in the laboratory to determine endurance
limits is prepared very carefully and tested under closely controlled conditions. It is unrealistic to
expect the endurance limit of a mechanical or structural member to match the values obtained in
the laboratory. Some differences include

 Material: composition, basis of failure, variability

 Manufacturing: method, heat treatment, fretting corrosion, surface condition, stress
concentration
 Environment: corrosion, temperature, stress state, relaxation times
 Design: size, shape, life, stress state, stress concentration, speed, fretting, galling

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Marin identified factors that quantified the effects of surface condition, size, loading, temperature,
and miscellaneous items. The question of whether to adjust the endurance limit by subtractive
corrections or multiplicative corrections was resolved by an extensive statistical analysis of a 4340
(electric furnace, aircraft quality) steel, in which a correlation coefficient of 0.85 was found for the
multiplicative form and 0.40 for the additive form. A Marin equation is therefore written as

Se = K a K b K c K d K e K f S'e ------- (2)

where K a = surface condition modification factor.

Kb = size modification factor.
Kc = load modification factor.
Kd = temperature modification factor.
Ke = reliability factor.
Kf = miscellaneous-effects modification factor.
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S e = rotary-beam test specimen endurance limit.
Se = endurance limit at the critical location of a machine part in the geometry
and condition of use.
Surface Factor K a :
The surface of a rotating-beam specimen is highly polished, with a final polishing in the axial
direction to smooth out any circumferential scratches. The surface modification factor depends on
the quality of the finish of the actual part surface and on the tensile strength of the part material. To
find quantitative expressions for common finishes of machine parts (ground, machined, or cold-
drawn, hot-rolled, and as-forged), the coordinates of data points were recaptured from a plot of
endurance limit versus ultimate tensile strength of data gathered by Lipson and Noll and reproduced
by Horger and the data can be represented by
K a = a SbUt
where Sut is the minimum tensile strength and a and b are to be found in Table 1.1:

Size Factor K b :
Size factor results for bending and torsion may be expressed as

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Loading Factor K c :

Temperature Factor K d :
When operating temperatures are below room temperature, brittle fracture is a strong possibility
and should be investigated first. When the operating temperatures are higher than room
temperature, yielding should be investigated first because the yield strength drops off so rapidly
with temperature. Any stress will induce creep in a material operating at high temperatures; so this
factor must be considered too.

To analyze the temperature factor, we considered 145 tests of 21 different carbon and alloy steels.
A fourth order polynomial curve fit to the data and is given by

ST
If the rotating beam endurance limit is known at room temperature, then we can use K d =
S RT

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6. Stress concentration and Notch Sensitivity:

The existence of irregularities or discontinuities, such as holes, grooves, or notches, in a part

increases the theoretical stresses significantly in the immediate vicinity of the discontinuity.
A stress concentration factor K t (or K ts ), which is used with the nominal stress to obtain the
maximum resulting stress due to the irregularity or defect. It turns out that some materials are not
fully sensitive to the presence of notches and hence, for these, a reduced value of K t can be used.
For these materials, the maximum stress is, in fact,
σ max = K f σ 0 or τ max = K fs τ 0
where K f is a reduced value of K t and σ 0 is the nominal stress. The factor K f is called fatigue stress-
concentration factor, and hence the subscript f. So it is convenient to think of K f as a stress-
concentration factor reduced from K t because of lessened sensitivity to notches. The resulting
factor is defined by the equation

maximum stress∈notched specimen

Kf =
stress∈notch−free specimen

K f −1 K fs −1
Notch sensitivity q is defined by the equation q = or q shear = ------- (3)
K t −1 K ts −1
where q is usually between zero and unity.
Eq (3) shows that if q = 0, then K f =1, and the material has no sensitivity to notches at all.
if q = 1, then K f = K t , and the material has full notch sensitivity.

In analysis or design work, find K t first, from the geometry of the part. Then specify the material,
find q, and solve for K f from the equation.

7. Stresses in shafts.

1. Shear stresses due to the transmission of torque

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 2. Bending stress (tensile or compressive) due to the forces action upon machine
elements like gears, pulleys etc. as well as due to the weight of the shaft itself
3. Stress due to combined Torsional and bending loads

The fluctuating stresses due to bending and torsion are given by

Where M m and M a are the midrange and alternating bending moments, T m and T a are the
midrange and alternating torques, and K f and K fs are the fatigue stress concentration factors for
bending and torsion, respectively.

Assuming a solid shaft with round cross section, appropriate geometry terms can be introduced for
c, I, and J resulting in

' '
Substitution of σ a and σ m from Eqs.4 & 5 results in

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**********************************************************************************

Problems:

1. A line shaft rotating at 200 rpm is to transmit 20kW. The shaft may be assumed to be made of
mild steel with an allowable shear stress of 42 MPa. Determine the diameter of the shaft, neglecting
the bending moment on the shaft.

2. A steel spindle transmits 4KW at 800 rpm. The angular deflection should not exceed 0.25⁰ per
metre of the spindle. if the modulus of rigidity for the material of the spindle is 84GPa, find the
diameter of the spindle and the shear stress induced in the spindle.

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3. Given a 1050 HR Steel with SUlt = 630 MPa. Estimate

a. The endurance Limit

b. The fatigue strength of a polished rotating beam specimen corresponding to 10⁴ cycles to failure.
c. The expected life of a polished rotating beam specimen under a completely reversed stress of 385
MPa.

Sol: a) S'e = 0.5 SUlt = 0.5*630 = 315 MPa.

( f SUlt ) ² ( 0.86∗630 ) ²
b) Sf = a N b where a = = = 931.896 MPa.
Se 315

1 f S Ult 1 0.86∗630
b= -3 log ( )
Se = - 3
log
315 (
= - 0.0785 )
Sf = 931.896 N −0.0785 = 1084 * 104
(−0.0785)
= 451.08 MPa

c) σ a = Sf = 385 MPa
1
sf 385 −1
=> N= ( ) (
a
b
=
931.896 ) 0.0785
= 77.7*10³ Cycles.

4. The section of shaft shown in the figure is to be designed to approximate relative sizes of d =
D
0.75D and r = with diameter d conforming to that of standard metric rolling-bearing bore sizes.
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The shaft is to be made of SAE 2340 steel, heat-treated to obtain minimum strengths in the shoulder
area of 1226-MPa ultimate tensile strength and 1130-MPa yield strength with a Brinell hardness not
less than 368. At the shoulder the shaft is subjected to a completely reversed bending moment of 70

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N-m, accompanied by a steady torsion of 45 N-m. Use a design factor of 2.5 and size the shaft for an
infinite life.

Sol: K a = a N b = 4.51 (1226)−0.265 = 0.685

Trail 1: Assume d r = 22 mm

−0.107 −0.107
d
Kb = = ( ) = 22
( ) = 0.893
7.62 7.62
Se = K a K b K c K d K e K f S'e = 0.685*0.893*0.5*1226 = 375 MP ( K c =K d ¿ K e ¿ K f =1 ; S 'e =0.5 S Ult ¿
2D dr 22
d r = d - 2r = 0.75 D - = 0.65 D => D = = = 33.8 mm
20 0.65 0.65
D 33.8
r= = = 1.69 mm
20 20
d = d r + 2r = 22 + 2 (1.69) = 25.4 mm
r 1.69 d 25. 4
= = 0.077 ; = = 1.15 => K t = 1.9 ; K ts = 1.5
dr 22 dr 22
r = 1.69 mm, q = 0.9 and q shear = 0.97
K f = 1 + q ( K t - 1 ) = 1 + 0.9 (1.9 - 1 ) = 1.81
K fs = 1 + q shear ( K ts - 1 ) = 1 + 0.97 (1.5 - 1 ) = 1.49
Using good-man fatigue failure criteria

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from the above equation d r =
{√ {3 16 n 2 K f M a 1
π Se
+
S Ult √
3 ( K fs T m ) ²
}}
dr =
{√3 16∗2.5 2∗1.81∗70
π { +
1
375∗10⁶ 1130∗10⁶
√ 3 ( 1.49∗45 ) ² }} = 21.5 mm

21.5
D= = 33 mm
0.65
d = 0.75 D = 0.75 * 33 = 24.75 mm

5. A solid round bar, 25 mm in diameter, has a groove 2.5-mm deep with a 2.5-mm radius machined
into it. The bar is made of AISI 1018 CD steel and is subjected to a purely reversing torque of 200 N
m. For the S-N curve of this material, let f = 0.9.
(a) Estimate the number of cycles to failure.
(b) If the bar is also placed in an environment with a temperature of 450 ⁰ C, estimate the number of
cycles to failure.

Sol:
A) K a = a N b = 4.51 ( 440)−0.265 = 0.899
−0.107 −0.107
d
Kb = = ( ) = 20
( 7.62 ) = 0.902
7.62
K c = 0.577
Kd = Ke = 1
Se = K a∗K b∗K c* K d * K e * S'e = 0.899 * 0.902 * 0.577* 220 = 103 MPa

Sf = a N b where a =
( f SUlt ) ² ( 0.9∗440 ) ²
= = 1522 MPa.
Se 103

1 f S Ult 1 0.9∗440
b= -3 log
1
( )Se = - 3
log
103 (
= - 0.195 )
f Sult 0.9∗440 −1
N=
a ( ) ( b
=
1522 ) 0.195
= 1000 Cycles.

B) at T= 450⁰ C, K d = 0.843
Se = 0.899 * 0.902 * 0.577 * 0.843 * 220 = 86.83 MPa

( f SUlt ) ² f S Ult
a=
Se
=
( 0.9∗440 ) ²
86.83
= 1806 MPa. ; b= - 13 log ( )Se
=-
1
3
log(0.9∗440
86.83 )= - 0.22

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 1
f Sult 0.9∗440 −1
N= ( ) (
a
b
=
1806 ) 0.22
= 989 Cycles.

6. Following Fig shows a rotating shaft simply supported in ball bearings at A and D and loaded by a
non rotating force F of 6.8 kN. Using ASTM “minimum” strengths, estimate the life of the part. The
material is Cold steel with SUlt = 690 MPa, S y = 580 MPa, reliability 99 % and working temperature
20⁰ C. Find

(A) The stress (B) The No of cycles to failure (C) Fatigue strength @ 20 *10³ cycles @ Point B & C.

Sol: The endurance limit S'e is estimated as S'e = 0.5 SUlt = 0.5 * 690 = 345 MPa.
K a = a ( sullt ) -b = 4.51 (690)-0.265 = 0.798

For part 2 (Point B)

d 32
Kb = ( 7.62 ) -0.107
= ( 7.62 ) -0.107
= 0.858

For part 4 (Point C)

d 35
Kc = ( 7.62 ) -0.107
= ( 7.62 ) -0.107
= 0.849

K c = K d = 1 for bending & room temperature.

K e = 0.814 for reliability 99.10

∴ Seb = 0.798 * 0.858 * 0.814 * 236 = 131.5 MPa

Sec = 0.798 * 0.849 * 0.814 * 236 = 130 MPa

Stress concentration Factor:

At point B:

K t for point B is calculated as

D 38 r 3
= = 1.1875 = = 0.09375 K t = 1.65 q = 0.84
d 32 d 32

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K f = 1 + q ( K t -1) = 1 + 0.84 (1.65-1) = 1.55

At point C:

K t for point C is calculated as

D 38 r 2.5
= = 1.086 = = 0.078 K t = 1.6 q =
d 35 d 32
0.78

K f = 1 + q ( K t -1) = 1 + 0.78 (1.6-1) = 1.468

Stresses:

225 325
R1 = * 6800 = 2.78 KN R2 = * 6800 = 4 KN
550 550

225 F 225∗6.8
M B = R1 X = * 250 = * 250 = 695.5 N-m. similarly M C = 500 N-m.
550 550

M B CB 695.5
σ B = K fb = 1.55 * * 10-6 = 335.1 MPa.
IB 3.217

MC C C
σ C = K fc = 1.468 * 500 = 734 MPa.
IC

life Before failure:

At point B:

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At point C:

C) Fatigue Strength

at point B using SUlt = 690 MPa, f = 0.844

Sfb = a N b = 2608.8 * ( 20∗103 ) -0.215 = 310.255 MPa

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